Integrated video system

ABSTRACT

The present invention relates to the general matter of integration of Internet services and telephony services with a video display (e.g., a television set). In a preferred embodiment, the invention utilizes a personal computer for system intelligence with a connection from a set top box to receive enhanced feature requests originating from a user remote control device. The personal computer processes the requests and generates pop-up windows which are sent back to the set top box for insertion into the video image as interactive displays simultaneously with the entertainment content already found in the video image.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0001] It is well known that personal computers (PCs) can provide userswith access to a vast array of information and services via theInternet. Conventional PC access to the Internet, however, suffers somelimitations such as: 1) the need to first establish a dial-up connectionto an Internet service provider (ISP); 2) the need to access aparticular information provider (e.g., an electronic mail server or afinancial reporting service) to learn if there is information ofparticular interest to the user; 3) the need to be at the PC location toaccess such information using the PC keyboard and to see the informationon the PC monitor; and 4) the need for the PC user to be relativelysophisticated in the use of the PC and the Internet to get the desiredinformation or services. One of the known approaches that has becomepopular in overcoming some of these limitations is the incorporation ofInternet access functionality into a television set or a CATV set topbox. Such implementations are commonly referred to as PCTV or WEB TV. Amajor limitation of the PCTV approach to simplifying Internet access isthat it does not use a PC that is already in the residence or otherlocation in need of user-friendly information or services. The PCTVoffering is typically much less capable than contemporary PC hardwareand likely to be out of date with rapidly advancing PC technology.

[0002] Another example of known attempts to integrate television and PCcomputing is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,790,201, entitled: “Televisionand Computer Capability Integration.” This patent discloses a couplerfor selectively choosing one of two user interfaces to a computer. Aprimary interface consists of a conventional CRT or other computermonitor, keyboard, mouse, joystick, etc. A secondary interface consistsof a television set and additional input devices such as keyboard,mouse, joystick, etc. The primary interface allows the user to use thecomputer in a conventional manner—presumably while seated in front ofthe CRT monitor. Selecting the secondary interface allows the user touse the computer with a conventional television set as a monitor and theadditional input devices—presumably while seated in front of thetelevision. Only one of the two interfaces is enabled at any particulartime. Thus, this disclosure does not allow simultaneous viewing of thetelevision with computer interaction. Furthermore, there is nopossibility of having the computer inform the user of the occurrence oftelephony/Internet related events while the user is watching televisionand not using the secondary user interface.

[0003] Another area of consumer communications services achievingincreasing user acceptance is enhanced telephone features such as callerID, call waiting, call forwarding and network based voice messaging.Although these features are useful in their present offerings theirusefulness and convenience is limited by the method of accessing themvia a telephone and viewing them, in the case of caller ID, with adisplay associated with the telephone set itself. Mechanisms have becomeavailable to display caller ID information on a TV screen such as: “TVMessenger” from TriNexus or “TI 3000 Caller ID on TV” from Palco Telecom(both in Canada). These mechanisms enable displaying incoming callinformation on the television screen but provide no mechanism for thetelevision viewer to interact with the system other than to access thetelephone directly.

[0004] Yet another area of emerging communications technology is the useof the Internet for voice communications commonly referred to as“Internet telephony (IT).” The prevailing method of offering suchservices is through dial-up connections to a service provider thatessentially uses the Internet as a long-distance network for phoneconversations. Two limitations of contemporary IT services are: 1) theneed to dial a local telephone number before dialing the eventualdestination; and 2) the possibility that the user may not know ahead oftime if a particular destination can be reached via the selected ITservice provider.

[0005] Because of the limitations and independent operation of theaforementioned systems it is desirable to provide a new systemconfiguration that enhances the accessibility and user friendliness ofthe individual service offerings and provides new services based on thefunctional combination of the separate systems.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0006] The present invention relates to the general matter ofintegration of Internet services and telephony services with a videodisplay (e.g., a television set). In a preferred embodiment, theinvention utilizes a personal computer for system intelligence with aconnection from a set top box to receive enhanced feature requestsoriginating from a user remote control device. The personal computerprocesses the requests and generates pop-up windows which are sent backto the set top box for insertion into the video image as interactivedisplays simultaneously with the entertainment content already found inthe video image.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0007] The features and advantages derived from the invention willbecome readily apparent from the following detailed description of thepreferred embodiments with reference to the appended drawings in which:

[0008]FIG. 1 illustrates an integrated video system in accordance with apreferred embodiment of the invention;

[0009]FIG. 2 shows a preferred embodiment of the video & telephoneinterface card (VTIC) used in the integrated video system of FIG. 1;

[0010]FIG. 3 depicts an integrated video system utilizing an asymmetricdigital subscriber line (ADSL) in accordance with another preferredembodiment of the invention;

[0011]FIG. 4 illustrates an integrated video system utilizing a cablemodem in accordance with yet another preferred embodiment of theinvention;

[0012]FIG. 5 shows an integrated video system utilizing a coaxial cablein accordance with a further preferred embodiment of the invention;

[0013]FIG. 6 depicts an integrated video system utilizing a telephonyapplication programming interface (TAPI) in accordance with anotherpreferred embodiment of the invention; and

[0014]FIG. 7 illustrates yet another preferred embodiment of anintegrated video system in accordance with the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0015] The invention will be described in detail with reference to thepreferred embodiments illustrated in FIGS. 1-7. The invention isdescribed herein in its preferred application to an integration ofInternet and telephony services. However, the invention may beapplicable to any type or configuration of communications services thatrequire the display of and interaction with information for a user.

[0016] As shown by the preferred embodiment depicted in FIG. 1, theinvention is directed to a system that provides integrated,user-friendly communications systems access. In this embodiment, useraccess to the system is provided through a conventional television set1, a conventional telephone 2, and an enhanced remote (ER) 3. Enhancedremote 3 operates in the same manner as any conventional remote controldevice (e.g., TV/VCR remote) with the exception that special buttons oroperational modes have been added (or programmed in) to provide accessand control of the system's enhanced features. Enhanced remote 3communicates via communications link 4 to an enhanced set-top box (ESTB)5. Communications link 4, as well as any communications or data linkdescribed herein, can be any known communications link known in the art.For example, the links described herein may be either a wirelesstransmission path such as an infrared link, an RF link, an ultrasoniclink, or a wired transmission path such as a copper wire, coaxial cable,fiber optic channel, etc.

[0017] ESTB 5 provides the basic capabilities of a conventional set-topbox with respect to a CATV input 6 (which generically represents anyaudio/video television input such as broadcast cable, digital broadcastsatellite, video cassette recorder/player, video disc player, etc.) andTV output 16. In accordance with a preferred embodiment of theinvention, however, ESTB 5 is implemented with the added capability offorwarding commands from ER 3 to a video & telephone interface card(VTIC) 9 in PC 10 utilizing data link 7. (The ER commands may also bereceived directly by PC 10 or relayed by any other known device separatefrom ESTB 5). ESTB 5 is also configured to accept as an input a videowindow from VTIC 9 over video window link 8. ESTB 5 inserts the videowindow from video window link 8 into the video image provided to TV 1 toproduce the pop-up window on the TV screen simultaneously with theentertainment content of the original video image. The pop-up window isinserted into the video image using techniques similar to those used togenerate picture-in-picture (PIP) screens in commercially availabletelevision sets. It should be noted, however, that the pop-up window isdisplayed on TV 1 whether or not TV 1 has built-in PIP capabilities.Furthermore, the pop-up window can contain text, graphics, PCapplication windows, or any combination of these.

[0018] For illustrative purposes, the configuration of FIG. 1 utilizes aconventional dial-up modem 11 for access via telephone line 13. Anyother device for providing a communications or data link with theInternet may also be used, however. Modem 11 communicates with VTIC 9via data link 12 which is preferably implemented using the well-knownPeripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) bus of the PC, although anyother known protocol or communication link may be used. Telephone accessis provided via telephone line 14 which can be a conventional telephoneline (e.g., twisted pair, Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line, ISDN BasicRate, etc.) having any variety of telephone data services, preferablyhaving at least caller ID data services. In any event, the user canplace or receive telephone calls from external telephone line 14 throughVTIC 9 and extension connection 15 to telephone 2.

[0019] As mentioned above, ER 3 can be implemented to operate in atleast two different ways. The first way is to use special buttonsdedicated to enhanced services. These special buttons cause new remotecontrol codes to be sent to ESTB 5 over and above the remote controlcodes used for conventional set top box operations. ESTB 5 merelyforwards the special remote control codes to VTIC 9 via data link 7.

[0020] A second implementation for ER 3 is to use existing buttons on aconventional remote but define one particular button or sequence ofbuttons to place ER 3 into and out of an enhanced services mode ofoperation. The enhanced services mode of operation causes ESTB 5 toforego normal ESTB processing of the ER 3 remote control codes andinstead pass them through to VTIC 9. In the preferred embodiment, theuser will know which state the ER 3 is in by a display of an indicationof the mode of operation on the TV screen.

[0021] More sophisticated remote control devices or other input devicescan be provided as system options are added. One such more sophisticatedremote control device could contain a full alphanumeric keyboard or amouse/trackball capability. If ER 3 is not implemented with analphanumeric keyboard, alphanumeric data entry can still be accomplishedwith a “virtual” keyboard which involves scrolling through alphanumericentries in a pop-up window and clicking on desired characters.

[0022] ESTB 5 implementation requirements may vary depending on howvarious functions are partitioned between ESTB 5 and VTIC 9. One of themost flexible ways of partitioning the functions is to make ESTB 5 astransparent as possible with respect to enhanced services. A transparentESTB 5 can be easily implemented by starting with the design of aconventional set top box (STB) and adding the transparency operation. Tobe transparent with respect to enhanced commands the controller in theconventional STB is reprogrammed to pass the new commands onto data link7 but retain processing functions for commands related to conventionalSTB operations. Data link 7 can also be implemented in a variety of waysknown in the art. One of the simplest, for example, is as a conventionalserial asynchronous data link as a microprocessor peripheral IC ordirectly available in many microprocessors such as an Intel 8051. To betransparent with respect to pop-up window displays pertaining toenhanced services, ESTB receives all information pertaining to thepop-up windows on video window link 8 and merely inserts the specifiedvideo window into the video image sent to TV 1.

[0023] In particular, although any one of the numerous formats ortechniques known in the art for inserting input signals such as thepop-up window information on data link 8 into a TV signal for displayare possible, the preferred implementation utilizes a digital array ofpixel values. Each pixel value contains 16 bits for 16 color digitaldisplays. In one embodiment, for example, the first informationtransferred is four parameters: x-start, y-start, x-range, y-range.Following these parameters are x-range*y-range pixel values arranged asy-range rows and x-range columns. The first two parameters (x-start,y-start) define the starting position of the pop-up window relative tothe total display size (e.g., 480×720 pixels). The pop-up windowinformation is stored in a DRAM memory element of ESTB 5. In thepreferred implementation, a digital TV signal is assumed which meansthat a digital multiplexer is used to select pop-up pixels whenever thepixel location (x,y) of the video generation process is in the range(x-start<=x<x-start+x-range) and (y-start<=y<y-start+y-range).Otherwise, pixel information from the main digital video signal isselected. The digital multiplexer may be any one of the known orcommercially available products such as the AViA-GTX advanced graphicsintegrated circuit from C-Cube Microsystems that provides the digitalmultiplexing function and DRAM interface, or the CH8438B Triple 8-bitDAC with Color Space Conversion and Analog MUX from Chrontel.

[0024] In one preferred embodiment VTIC 9 is composed of microprocessor20, data link interface 21, telephone interface 22, video communicationslink interface 23, and PCI bus interface 24, as shown in FIG. 2.Microprocessor 20 can be any commercially available microprocessorprogrammed to control the various parts on the board and to process theenhanced video and telephone services. Microprocessor 20 may also bereplaced by an external processor such as the PC processor that mayoperate to control the components of the VTIC 9 at the same time as itcontrols the other components of the PC. Microprocessor 20 is operableto process ER 3 commands received in Data Link Interface 21. Asmentioned previously, one embodiment of Data Link 7 is a simpleasynchronous serial data link, in which case, it is possible that DataLink Interface 21 might be contained within microprocessor 20 itself.Indeed, any one or more of these components may be combined in a mannerknown in the art to perform the same functions in one or more combinedmodules.

[0025] Telephone Interface circuit 22 utilizes relays, discretecomponents, and integrated circuits as is standard practice for modemsand PBX line card interfaces to the telephone lines 14, 15 used inconjunction with the implementation of the invention. In the preferredembodiment, a digital signal processor (DSP) integrated circuit is alsoprovided in interface circuit 22 for performing voice compression,speakerphone processing, facsimile conversions, and other telephonyoperations. Such DSP functions are well known in the art and arecommonly provided in voice/fax/modem cards for PC's. (Good speakerphoneperformance may require an external speaker and microphone not shown.)An additional capability that could be programmed into the DSP circuit(or added as an external device) as an enhanced option is speechrecognition for the detection of voice activated commands. Such speechrecognition capability would permit the control of PC 10 and/or ESTB 5in lieu of (or complementary to) the PC keyboard and ER 3.

[0026] One additional integrated circuit needed for a fully featuredVTIC 9 is a circuit to receive information (e.g., caller identificationinformation) from telephone services subscribed to by the user. Anexample of such a circuit is an Incoming Calling Line IdentificationReceiver with Ring Detection (ICS 1660) as available from IntegratedCircuit Systems, Inc. Other implementations of incoming caller IDservices are possible. The Service Manual of System 2000 2-Line CallerID (catalog number 43-972) from Radio Shack, for example, which isincorporated herein by reference, provides a complete schematic andparts list for a telephone line interface and a caller ID module thatmay be used in implementing the invention. In a preferred embodiment,VTIC 9 also provides a metallic, automatic connection between externalline 14 and extension line 15. This connection allows the user to retainfull use of the telephone line without activating the system wheneverthe PC is turned off or is otherwise not operational.

[0027] Video Communications Link Interface 23 is preferably implementedas a serial data link wherein a data block represents a pixel array of adesired pop-up window. Included with the data block is a set ofparameters defining the location and size of the pop-up window. ESTB 5processes the video window information by multiplexing (i.e., inserting)the pixel information into the TV video signal 16. The multiplexingfunction can be accomplished on analog or digital signals. (The AViA-GTXpart mentioned previously supports digital multiplexing while theCH8438B uses analog multiplexing.) Other formats for Video Link 8 arepossible.

[0028] PCI Bus Interface 24 may be implemented using any integratedcircuit or other device known in the art for providing access to thestandard PC bus. Internal Data Bus 25 of VTIC 9 is used bymicroprocessor 20 to communicate with each of the various components ofVTIC 9.

[0029] As mentioned in the background discussion, dial-up access to anISP is not the most desirable means of getting connected to theInternet. Permanent on-line connections are more desirable for tworeasons: 1) spontaneous short information retrievals such as telephonedirectory numbers are facilitated; and 2) the network can sendunsolicited messages to a user whenever particular events occur such aselectronic mail arrival, or updates to select sites are made. FIG. 3depicts one alternate configuration that utilizes an Asymmetric DigitalSubscriber Loop (ADSL) connection 30 to the Internet, although otherhigh capacity links may also be provided (e.g., ISDN, satellite, cablemodem, etc.).

[0030] ADSL is a standardized digital access technology utilizing asingle conventional telephone wire pair to simultaneously carry aconventional analog voice channel and a permanently connected digitaldata channel. As shown, splitter 31 is used to externally separate thetwo channels. Some ADSL implementations may not require the use of anexternal splitter but instead incorporate the splitter into theinterface card electronics, ADSL modem 32. The data channel is similarlyseparated at the central office subscriber line interface where it ismultiplexed with other ADSL data channels and connected to an ISP usinga leased line as opposed to a switched connection through the publicswitched telephone network—thus achieving a permanent connection.

[0031]FIG. 4 depicts another configuration that provides a permanentdata connection for Internet access. In this preferred embodiment, acable modem 40 is used in place of dial-up modem 11 of FIG. 1. In oneembodiment, CATV input 6 utilizes selected frequency bands to carrybi-directional data channels for individual subscribers in addition tobroadcast video. (Other cable modem configurations known in the art mayequally be utilized.) The individual data channels are multiplexed anddemultiplexed at the CATV head end and carried to and from an ISP onleased lines in similar fashion to the ADSL ISP interface. In thismanner, the cable modem configuration provides permanent Internetaccess. The Internet connection 41 in FIG. 4 is shown to be providedthrough data interface card 42. An alternate implementation couldincorporate the cable modem interface within ESTB 5, directly on VTIC 9or elsewhere within PC 10.

[0032] The following illustrations describe in exemplary fashion userfeature interactions and system processing steps. In all cases, it isassumed that an Internet connection exists—either through a dial-upmodem or via a permanent connection such as through an ADSL line, cablemodem, or other known mechanism.

[0033] Incoming Telephone Call

[0034] A call arrives on telephone line 14 and VTIC 9 detects theringing status and the caller ID information which consists of a callingtelephone number and the caller's name, if available. (In an optionalmode of operation when the caller's name is not available or notprovided as part of the subscribed service from the telephone company,one of several Internet sites that provide reverse telephone numberlook-up can be accessed to retrieve the caller's name. A furtheroptional mode allows the user to store caller names and associated phonenumbers in a look-up table that can be accessed to provide a givencaller's name based on the input calling telephone number.) At the veryleast, the identity of the area code can be determined by a look-uptable. In response to the call detection, VTIC 9 generates a pop-upwindow containing the calling number information and a set of userconfigurable options for handling the call. The pop-up window istransferred on video link 8 to ESTB 5 whereupon it is inserted into thevideo image sent to TV 1. From the list of options displayed, the userselects an option using a button or buttons on ER 3. An example ofpossible options include: 1) answer the call; 2) have the system take amessage, 3) forward the call, or 4) reject the call. The code of theselected option is transferred by ESTB 5 to VTIC 9 via data link 7. VTIC9 passes the command to a software program running in PC 10 which actson the selected option.

[0035] Telephone Directory Calling

[0036] The user presses one or more buttons on ER 3 to activate anInternet directory search. ESTB 5 passes the codes related to thedesired directory search to VTIC 9. VTIC 9 passes the command to anInternet browser program running in PC 10 which accesses a telephonedirectory site. (Any of a number of telephone directory sites can bepre-configured for selection by this command.) VTIC 9 generates a pop-upwindow containing the interactive image of the browser for display by TV1. The user enters alphanumeric data (e.g., name and location) relatedto the desired telephone number using an alphanumeric keyboard, virtualkeyboard, speech recognition, or other input device as the case may be.If the desired telephone number is encountered, the user can enter adial command option via ER 3 whereupon a software program in PC 10controls VTIC 9 to dial the selected telephone number for telephone 2.

[0037] Incoming Email Message

[0038] An electronic mail message is transferred from an ISP to a mailprogram running in PC 10. Upon receipt, PC 10 passes the message (or anindication of its arrival) to VTIC 9 for output in a pop-up window withthe mail programs image and appropriate options for processing themessage (e.g., reply, reply all, forward, save, delete, etc.). Thepop-up window thus is passed to ESTB 5 and displayed on TV 1. The usercan thereupon interact with the mail program using enhanced featurebuttons of ER 3.

[0039] Real-Time Information Banner

[0040] Electronic mail events are just one example of unsolicited eventsthat are usefully displayed on the user's TV screen. Numerous Internetsites offer delivery of unsolicited events such as breaking news, stockquotes, sports events, etc. using, for example, the so-called “Push”technology (e.g., Pointcast). The system configurations describedpreviously easily support such functions as a semi-permanent window (orportion of a window) in one portion of the TV screen or as a pop-upwindow that can be enabled or disabled with enhanced feature buttons onER3.

[0041] Voice Message Inbox Processing

[0042] Voice messaging operations associated with the system can besignificantly enhanced by displaying a directory of messages on the TVscreen at the request of a user. The ability to see the complete stateof a voice messaging in box including message duration, times ofarrival, and origins, permit expedient and informed processing of themessages. Associated with the inbox display are user options allowingfor processing such as: listen, delete, save, or forward. In situationswhere a user subscribes to a network-based answering service, as opposedto storing messages internally in the system, it is also possible forthe service provider to send inbox information via the Internet or otherdata communications facility to effect the same capabilities. Anadditional option is an integrated inbox which displays voice, email andfax messages and options for processing each.

[0043] Internet Telephony

[0044] The described system facilitates voice transmission in at leasttwo ways. First, a user can specify a desired telephone number using anyof a number of methodologies: 1) directly entering a number with ER 3;2) using ER 3 to select an entry in a speed dial list contained in apop-up window; 3) using ER 3 in combination with voice commands tospecify the number; 4) dialing a number with the dial pad of telephone 2or the keyboard (or other input device) of PC 10; or 5) any combinationof these input methods. In any case, an Internet telephony programrunning in PC 10 can process the desired number (possibly in cooperationwith an Internet telephony server) and determine if the desired numbercan be reached through the Internet. If the desired number is availablethrough the Internet, the call is placed and VTIC 9 provides theappropriate speech compression algorithm to send and receive digitizedspeech through Internet connection 13.

[0045] If the desired telephone number is not accessible through theInternet or there is no desire to place it over the Internet, the systemcan place the call over telephone line 14, as well known in the art.Notice that this method of placing the call does not require the user toknow ahead of time if a particular voice telephone number is availablethrough the Internet. The system can be set up to designate what callsshould be attempted through the Internet. For example, Internet callsmay be limited to certain known telephone numbers associated withInternet receivers, to calls for long-distance (international, domestic,or both), or to calls having certain quality rating, cost factor, timeof day, or other cost/benefit analysis formulation.

[0046] Second, the described system may be used to access an Internetsite with a voice connection option (e.g., a help desk). The user canmerely click on the voice connection option which causes both ends toestablish the Internet voice connection without having to dial atelephone number. The user of the system merely picks up the handset oftelephone 2 after clicking on the voice connection option (or, in thecase where a speaker phone is used, the user is immediately able toconverse).

[0047] While the invention has been described in detail in connectionwith the best mode of the invention known at the time of the filing ofthis application, it should be readily understood that the invention isnot limited to the specified embodiments described herein. Rather, theinvention can be modified to incorporate any number of variations,alterations, substitutions or equivalent arrangements not heretoforedescribed, which are commensurate with the spirit and scope of theinvention. For example, in the alternative configuration shown in FIG.7, the VTIC functions are incorporated into ESTB 5. Communicationsbetween the VTIC circuitry inside ESTB 5 and the PC occur over aconventional PC serial link 61 with serial link interface circuitry 62inside the PC. The advantage of this configuration is that no specialcards have to be added to the PC. (A serial interface 62 is oftenavailable for such functions as external modems.)

[0048] Persons of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that thereare numerous other alternatives as to how the functional components ofthe described system are partitioned and how the individual componentscommunicate with each other. One alternative, for example, is to use anenhanced video cassette recorder (EVCR) in place of ESTB 5. Functionsand interfaces to the EVCR would be identical or similar to thefunctions and interfaces described for ESTB 5. Another similaralternative is to use an enhanced television (ETV) in place of ESTB 5.Functions and interfaces to the ETV would be identical or similar to thefunctions and interfaces described for ESTB 5. Specifically, the ETVremote would have new commands that get passed by the ETV to VTIC 9.VTIC 9, in turn, sends a video window back to ETV for insertion into thedisplayed image.

[0049] Yet another alternative is to use a separate box dedicated toenhanced services. This box may be essentially identical to an ESTB.This box could be connected in series between a conventional set top boxand a television set, or between the conventional set top box and thePC. In the alternative, the box may include all of the ESTBcapabilities, but add the capabilities of VTIC 9 and other componentsused in PC 10 to facilitate operation of the invention. Accordingly, thebox may be connected among a conventional STB, a conventional PC, and aconventional TV.

[0050] Another alternative configuration is depicted in FIG. 5 which isa configuration that utilizes coaxial cable 6 for communication betweenESTB 5 and PC 10 in lieu of data link 7 and video link 8. Theconfiguration of FIG. 5 sends the same information between these systemelements but does so with frequency division multiplexed (FDM) or timedivision multiplexed (TDM) channels allocated to the respectivecommunication transfers. This configuration is advantageous in that itprovides more flexibility in the physical locations of ESTB 5 and PC 10.

[0051] An alternative implementation for the telephone interfaceinvolves the use of Computer Telephone Integration (CTI) technology inlieu of the single line interface disclosed as part of VTIC 9. A basicconfiguration for this alternative is shown in FIG. 6. Thisconfiguration uses a standardized Telephony Application ProgrammingInterface (TAPI) 52 between a telephone switching system 50 and adifferent version of a VTIC, VTIC 53. TAPI interface 52 allows PC 10 tomonitor and control switching operations within switching system 50.Examples of switching systems with TAPI interfaces are the commerciallyavailable Nitsuko America DS01, Onyx, and 124i/384i systems. Thesesystems have been designed specifically for PC control of telephoneoperations—including access to caller ID information. TAPI programminginformation is readily available in the industry. The 1998 AddisonWelsley book: Windows Telephony Programming: A Developer's Guide to TAPIby Chris Wells, which is incorporated herein by reference, is one sourceof such information. Besides getting access to caller ID information theconfiguration of FIG. 6 allows the user to direct an incoming call onone of telephone lines 14 to an extension line 51 through menuselections with ER 3.

[0052] As a further addition, the dial-up or other connection with theInternet could easily be replaced to provide for the connection withextranets, intranets, local area networks, or other communicationnetworks known in the art. The incoming/outgoing telephone lines 14, 15may be any wired (or even wireless) lines known for transportingtelephone signals such as analog (copper, twisted pair), digital (ISDN,T1, fiber optic), CATV cable modem, etc. Many of the features (e.g.,speech recognition) disclosed as being programmed into VTIC 9, cansimilarly be incorporated (in whole or part) into PC 10 or ESTB 5.

[0053] Although specific commercially available components used topractice the invention have been identified, substitution of one or moreother make or model components that satisfy the minimum structuraland/or functional aspects of the invention as set forth herein iscontemplated for use in practicing the invention. Accordingly, theinvention is not limited by the foregoing description, but is onlylimited by the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed as new and desired to be protected by Letters Patent ofthe United States is:
 1. An integrated Internet and telephony videosystem comprising: a personal computer having a modem for transferringinformation signals between the Internet and said personal computer, anda video/telephone interface card for receiving Internet and telephonyinformation signals, the video/telephone interface card outputting avideo window containing the Internet and telephony information signals;an enhanced set top box, receiving a plurality of video source signalsfrom a broadcast video source and the video window output from thevideo/telephone interface card of said personal computer, said enhancedset top box generating television (TV) images based on selected ones ofthe plurality of video source signals and the video window output fromthe video/telephone interface card; a television (TV) set displaying TVimages generated by said enhanced set top box for display on a TV screenof said TV set, wherein said video window appears on the TV screen as apop-up window displayed on the TV screen together with the TV imagesbased on the selected ones of the plurality of video source signals; anda remote control device outputting at least one of a plurality of remotecontrol command signals, the plurality of remote control command signalsused to interactively control operation of said enhanced set top box andsaid personal computer based on the TV images displayed on the TVscreen, wherein said enhanced set top box passes to the video/telephoneinterface card remote control commands output from the remote controlthat are designated for control of said personal computer.
 2. Theintegrated Internet and telephony video system of claim 1 wherein saidremote control device uses specific buttons dedicated to controloperation of said personal computer.
 3. The integrated Internet andtelephony video system of claim 1 wherein said remote control deviceuses particular button sequences dedicated to control operation of saidpersonal computer.
 4. The integrated Internet and telephony video systemof claim 1 wherein the video/telephone interface card contains atelephone line interface circuit used to process telephone informationsignals and relay the information signals to said enhanced set top box.5. The integrated Internet and telephony video system of claim 4 whereinthe telephone information signals relayed by the telephone lineinterface circuit includes caller identification information which isincluded in a pop-up window displayed on the TV screen.
 6. Theintegrated Internet and telephony video system of claim 1 wherein themodem in said personal computer is an asymmetrical digital subscriberline (ADSL) modem used to transfer information signals between theInternet and said personal computer.
 7. The integrated Internet andtelephony video system of claim 1 wherein the broadcast video source iscable television (CATV), and wherein the CATV broadcast video sourcealso provides connectivity to the Internet.
 8. The integrated Internetand telephony video system of claim 1 wherein said personal computer andsaid enhanced set top box are connected via coaxial cable and utilize afrequency division multiplex (FDM) protocol to effect communications. 9.The integrated Internet and telephony video system of claim 1 , furthercomprising: a telephone switch for receiving incoming telephone signalsand relaying the received telephone signals among local telephoneextensions and said personal computer; and a telephony applicationprogramming interface (TAPI), coupled between said telephone switch andthe video/telephone interface card of said personal computer, said TAPIoperative to allow said personal computer to monitor and controlswitching operations of the incoming telephone signals.
 10. Theintegrated Internet and telephony video system of claim 1 , wherein saidremote control device is connected to said enhanced set top box with acopper wire guided transmission media.